Occupational Medicine & Health Affairs
Open Access

Abstract

Introduction: Long term exposure to electromagnetic fields can cause chronic fatigue syndrome and hypersensitivity to electromagnetic fields and causes symptoms such as redness, itching and irritation, fatigue, headache, trouble concentrating, nausea and heart palpitations. The aim of study was survey of self-reported nonspecific symptoms for laptop users at Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted in the summer of 2012, and the study population consisted of 40 graduate students in Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. Self-reported nonspecific symptoms of laptop users were studied using a standard questionnaire which considered the prevalence of non-specific symptoms in laptop users. Analysis of data was performed using SPSS (version 18) statistical software. Results: The findings of the study showed that the prevalence of self-reported symptoms was high in users and the most common disorders were sleep (approximately 65%). There was a significant relationship between experience of laptop using and symptoms such as poor concentration, irritability and aggression, unusual headaches and sleep disorders (P<0.05). Further more, the relationship between hours of daily use from the laptop and symptoms such as feelings of dizziness and imbalance, anxiety, unusual headaches, increased symptoms of depression and sleep disturbances were also statistically significant (P<0.05). No statistical correlation was observed between the laptop type and the prevalence of non-specific symptoms (P>0.05). Conclusion: The results of study indicate that reviewed symptoms have high prevalence and the highest prevalence is related to sleep disturbances and unusual headaches are the least common. The results showed that the experience and daily use of laptop should be considered as risk factors.

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